An all-around teameffort propelled the Metuchen High School boys basketball team to a 66-42 win over South River on Saturday to improve the Bulldogs’ mark to 8-6 on the season. The team heads into thisweek’s action awin shy of qualifying for the state playoffs, hoping to qualify for a fourth consecutive showing.
Senior DejuanMiller led the team with 16 points, with Evan Carberry pumping in 11 and freshman Elijah Sellers adding nine against South River.
“Elijah scored all of his nine points in the first half, and his performance was the reason we pulled ahead in the second quarter,” Metuchen head coach Rich Stoner said. “He’s really emerged as a versatile guard of late. He can score and handle the ball, and when he feels we need a big basket he can take most people off the dribble and get off a decent shot.”
The balanced scoring effort fromtheBulldogs was a welcome sight for Stoner. At times, the teamhas toowillingly placedmost of the scoring burden on star playerMiller.
“Thiswas our best teameffort in terms of sharing the scoring,” Stoner said. “This has been a problemfor us over the lastmonth.”
Miller, on the other hand, has had little problem pumping in baskets. His tear over the past two weeks has been nothing short of spectacular. He began his scoring barrage with a 20-point effort against CardinalMcCarrick High School and followed that up with a 22-point performance against Keansburg. Miller then hit up JFK and Spotswood for 33 and 35 points respectively, and scored 25 points in a losing effort to Bishop Ahr. In last week’s rematch with Kennedy, he finished with 26.
“He’s getting his points from everywhere,” Stoner said. “He’s hitting jumpers, beating people off the dribble, getting offensive rebounds and shooting better from the foul line. He’s also been shooting well above 50 percent from the floor during this stretch. That’s very impressive.”
Against South River, Miller was 7-11 from the floor with Carberry shooting a perfect 4-4 from the floor.
“While Dejuan was a one-man wrecking crew, our scoring as a team went down,” Stoner said. “We’ve been focusing on getting the other guys the confidence to play and produce.”
The Bulldogs certainly put together a well-balanced attack against South River – Mark Switzer and Corey Preston also finished with nine points apiece.
Metuchen opened last week’s action with a tough 72-49 loss despite the 25 points it got from Miller.
“We played Bishop Ahr well for three quarters,” Stoner said. “The problem was that we fell apart in the second quarter, and thatwaswhat ultimately decided the game.”
The Dogs bounced back with an exciting 64-60 win over Kennedy. Miller’s 26 points led the team, but the play of Sellers down the stretch should not be overlooked. Sellers scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including his conversion of a big three-point play in the closing minutes.
Metuchen will look to build off the twogame winning streak with games against Highland Park, Princeton Day, and Middlesex this week.
After opening with Highland Park on Monday, the Bulldogs will host Princeton Day for a 7 p.m. tip-off Jan. 31 and close the week at home against Middlesex. The team is eagerly awaiting the rematch with Middlesex after losing to them in overtime in the first meeting.
“We had a hard time scoring in that game,” Stoner said. “Hopefully we can spread the wealth and give ourselves a chance to win the game.”